Dominican Republic to Face Puerto Rico in WBC Final

It’s not clear precisely what it means to be champion of the World Baseball Classic. The best team in the world? Probably not, given the randomness inherent in such a short event. The world’s most skilled baseball nation? Doubtful, given the absence of many of the world’s most skilled players from the tournament.

Associated Press

The Dominican Republic’s Jose Reyes scored against the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic game in San Francisco, Monday,.

The only thing that’s clear is this: For the teams that will play in the championship game Tuesday night in San Francisco, winning would mean a lot.

The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico have been among the most outwardly passionate teams in the WBC – no coincidence, given how well they have played. For either team, it would suffice to be able to say it was the team that played the best in the closest thing there is to a true World Series.

“For us, it’s big, because we are here representing our country, and our country is about baseball,” Dominican manager Tony Pena said. “It’s not about anything else. We grew up with a stick in our hands. We are representing 10 million people from our country.”

The WBC tries hard to promote that sense of nationalism, and at times it seems more orchestrated than real. Teams such as Italy and Spain, which relied heavily on foreign-born players, can only claim so much national pride. But with the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, none of it is forced.

The two nations are separated by just 60 miles of the Caribbean Sea and share a rich baseball history. Together, they have produced 33 Caribbean Series champions and nearly 800 major-league players. A few members of both teams have won World Series championships with their major-league clubs. But even players who already have rings say the WBC is different – maybe not more significant, but certainly unique.

“It’s a chance that you’re going to have every four years,” said Dominican second baseman Robinson Cano, who won a championship with the New York Yankees in 2009. “It’s not that you say, ‘OK, we get it next year.’ You don’t know if you’re going to be here again.”

So far, the Dominican Republic has been a juggernaut. It defeated the Netherlands 4-1 Monday night in the semifinals to improve to 7-0 in the tournament. No other team has reached the final without losing a game before. The D.R. boasts the tournament’s best player in Cano. And it has defeated Puerto Rico twice already.

Puerto Rico is the improbable contender. To make it this far, it had to beat three of the world’s foremost baseball powers in Venezuela, the United States and Japan.

What has Puerto Rico proven? The U.S. was missing many of its best players. Japan was missing all of its major-league stars. And Puerto Rico eliminated the U.S. on the strength of a starting pitcher born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. That is to say nothing of the fact that Puerto Rico is, of course, a U.S. territory. Such is the complicated nature of the tournament.

It is probably best to forget about the idea of Tuesday’s game being some kind of proving ground at all. It’s not an Olympic gold-medal game. It’s not a World Cup final. But it’s also far from a meaningless exhibition.

To many American fans, it may be little more than that. But for people with ties to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and especially for the teams, it matters.

There will be major-league players on both sides: with Cano, Jose Reyes, Edwin Encarnacion and Fernando Rodney leading the D.R., and Carlos Beltran, Angel Pagan and Yadier Molina highlighting Puerto Rico’s roster. In a few days, all of them will be back with their major-league teams, back to the monotony of spring training.

But they have something bigger to play for first. Whatever this game means, it is meaningful. In a flawed tournament that is more about promoting the game than showcasing the very best of it, pride is still a driving force. And for Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, pride is enough.

“When we get together, and I’m going to repeat this, the boys are very aware that this is not just a championship, [not] just a sports game,” Puerto Rico manager Edwin Rodriguez said through an interpreter. “We know what this means for the Puerto Rican people beyond the sports aspect and we’re accomplishing that. You can feel that.”

Comments (5 of 8)

I agree with all the other comments, and I want to add, that I highly doubt that Edwin Rodriguez made those comments through an interpreter. He spoke many times throughout the WBC and he speaks english very well.

11:54 pm March 19, 2013

chellchelle wrote:

What crap. Very weak piece.

5:43 pm March 19, 2013

HGS wrote:

Clearly, it is without doubt that this writer has buyers remorse. He bought into the idea of a USA team that was to dominate in this tournament just based on the fact that all the players on its roster were major-league players versus teams whose rosters consisted of some players of major league talent, but mostly AAA & AA talent. He feels that because the USA lost against such teams it makes it, a not worth while tournament. Is it the other countries fault that the USA players have no pride in there country? All major league players are eligible to play! The best of the best can play! Maybe just, maybe, if the USA team played with more heart they could win in a tournament where COUNTRY means more then they do.

3:48 pm March 19, 2013

Bill wrote:

So sad to see a writer from a distinguished paper write such a one-sided article that only showcases an obvious suffer from a loss and even worse sportsmanship. Even sadder to see the paper actually publish it....

SPORTS, THE JOURNAL WAY

Be sure to check your Daily Fix all week long. The Fix's daily rundown of the best sportswriting on the Web is joined by features such as The Count, a look at the most revealing sports stats, as well as regular live reports of major sports events. Tell us what you think of the Fix at dailyfixlinks@gmail.com.

In baseball, there is a long-standing tradition of pro teams inviting college teams to play them in preseason exhibitions. A look at this odd tradition, and the awkward, no-win situations it creates for the pros.